The First, Official, Christmas
by The Fellowship of New School
Summary: A Secret Santa for TheMoonIsAFriend. While Ben is away, Richard spends time with Alex and teaches her about Christmas.


**Here is a Secret Santa for TheMoonIsAFriend! Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!**

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><p>Alex sat at the breakfast table, sleepily eyeing the food on her plate. Instead of the usual Dharma cereal, there were muffins and eggs. Obviously the work of Richard. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:38. <em>That's probably why I'm home alone, <em>she thought, _Dad's probably out, and who knows where Richard could be. _She ate the muffins in silence. Afterwards she walked into the kitchen and carelessly set her dishes in the sink. As she walked back into the living room a note on the fridge caught her eye.

_Alex, _

_I'll be out. _

_Richard should be back before two, but if not, there's food in the pantry, as always,_

_Dad._

She took down the post-it off of the fridge, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash can. Alex had until two to take advantage of a full freedom she didn't really experience under her father. So, like any nine-year-old would do, she went into her room, turned on her CD player up to its full volume, and doodled in an old DHARMA notebook. After a while she got tired of the loud music, so she turned the volume down and went back downstairs. She poured herself a glass of a weird tasting juice one of her dad's friends made for them. Ben only let her have one glass at a time. She drank seven. She went into the living room, and read the first few pages of a book called _Of Mice and Men._ Alex didn't really understand it, so she took one of her Judy Blume's off of the coffee table and sat on the rug, leaning her head against the large armchair. Seven pages crawled by before Alex decided she didn't feel like reading. Freedom was sweet, for a while. She was getting bored.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Alex panicked, the house was a wreck! She looked alarmingly at her watch; it was just 12:57. Her dad shouldn't have been home, and Richard wasn't supposed to come for another hour. She slowly approached the door, and opened it, expecting to find her father. Luckily for her, it was only Richard.

"Hello, Alex."

"Hello, Mr. Richard."

"May I come in?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Alex opened the door, and went back to the kitchen to clean up the aftermath of the juice escapade. Richard followed, while Alex hurried to wipe up spilt juice that conveniently missed her glass. "Sorry, about the mess, that is. It's Dad's fault though, leaving me by myself. It was fun for a while, but then it got boring, you know?" Richard nodded his head in agreement. "So, I kinda…made lots of messes. But, I can clean them up before he gets home, if you want to help or anything, that'd be cool. If you want." Richard laughed. She handed him an empty drinking glass, pointed to a cabinet next to the stove. "And…the kitchen is the worst of our problems. If you want water, there are bottles in the fridge and there's always the sink." Alex threw the dirty rag into the dishwasher, probably not the best idea, but she had greater things to do. Twenty minutes later Alex had gotten the kitchen to look a tiny bit better than it did before she got up. "Hey, Richard?" She yelled from the living room.

''Yes?"

"You wouldn't mind helping me in there? It's only a few books and some pillows, but I'd like help."

"Alright."

"Alex, do you know what today is?" Richard handed a couch pillow to the girl, who tried to place it straightly on the couch, failed miserably, and went back to straightening books on one of the Linus' several bookcases.

"What?"

"Christmas Eve." Alex set the book she had been holding onto the top of the bookshelf, and raised an eyebrow at Richard.

"What's that?"

"Well, there's a tradition, on Christmas Day, families and friends give each other presents. They also sing songs that were made especially for Christmas, and sometimes they have a tree."

"In their house?"

"Yes. They hang decorations on it."

"That's weird."

"Not to them." Alex paused.

"I've heard of Christmas before. Dad and I celebrated it once, but all we did was…well…I got a present. I just thought it was, like, a reward for being good. I guess that's Christmas."

"There's much more to it than that. There's a story, but I don't want to bore a _big_ eleven-year-old with stories." Alex shook her head.

"No, it's ok. I don't mind stories." Alex shrugged.

"Well," Richard said, "You're going to have to wait. Ben isn't going to be here until tomorrow, so it looks like it's just you and me, kiddo." He laughed, messing up Alex's hair. "And, to celebrate, we are going to have your first, official, Christmas." Alex nodded, excitement evident in her eyes. She picked up a fallen picture frame of Ben and her when she was little, Alex standing with her shoulders held high, her front teeth missing.

"What's he doing? So that he'll be gone until tomorrow?"

"Business."

"What kinds of business?"

"Couldn't tell you."

"Ok. What do we do for Christmas?" Richard smiled. He walked into the kitchen, and knelt down so he was eye level with Alex.

"You, my friend, are going to make the ornaments."

"For the tree?"

"Oh, yes, we'll have our very own Christmas tree." Alex grabbed the scissors from the counter beside her and literally ran to her bedroom to start making the ornaments. Richard laughed quietly to himself, this would be a different experience for Alex, and he hoped she wouldn't see it as another weekend, another Saturday. He hoped she would see it as a new tradition.

"So, what other 'carols' do you know?" Alex asked. In a mere three hours, they had made enough ornaments to satisfy the needs of a proper Christmas tree, cut down a tree, and sang Christmas Carols. There were no presents under the tree…yet. Richard noticed this, and chuckled silently to himself. What's a Christmas tree without presents underneath it? "And, you still have to tell me the story."

"There's still the story." Richard agreed. "Would you like to sing a song about Jingle Bells?" Alex rolled her eyes.

"What does that have to do with Christmas?"

"It just does. Ok, it starts off with…" Richard struggled to remember the words, "_Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh-_"

"What's a sleigh?" Alex interrupted.

"_O'er the fields we go, laughing all the way. Bells on bob-tails ring…" _Richard sang, ignoring her.

"What are bob-tails?"

"_They're making spirits bright. What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight! _Now, the chorus is rather simple. All you sing is: _Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh._ Now, you repeat that twice, and then there's another verse. Do you want to try and sing it?" Alex nodded, her eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember the words.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the while! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open…um…one-horse open…"

"Sleigh." Richard finished.

"One horse open sleigh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells, and jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!"

"Sung like a true musician," Richard clapped for the performer, "You put me to shame, I must say." Alex giggled. "Are you still up for that story?" She nodded. Ok, well it's kind of long, so you may want to sit down."

"What is the story about?"

"Well, there are a lot. Tell you what, I'll tell you one of the newer ones, and we'll save the longer, more complicated one until you're older. Would you like to hear about…Santa Claus?"

"Who's that?"

"He's a big, fat man. There's more to him than that, though. Being big and fat shouldn't really make you world-famous. He's an old man, rumored to fly a sleigh around the whole world on Christmas, and give presents to kids who have been well-behaved. He wears a big red suit, and his sleigh is pulled by reindeer, which can fly."

"That's the story?"

"Of course not. But, I'm giving you an overview of him. That way, when I tell you the story, you won't have as many questions. As I was saying, he lives in a place called the North Pole, which is an island just like ours. That's Santa Claus. The story I'm going to tell you is called 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.'"

"Let me guess, it's about the night before Christmas." Alex yawned.

"How you managed to reach that conclusion, I'll never know." Alex crawled up into the armchair, resting her head on the armrest, ready to hear the story. "Alright, here we go." Richard pulled a hidden book from under the couch. "'_Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature were stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there." _

"St. Nicholas?"

"Another name for Santa Claus. _The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And ma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap." _Richard turned the page. "_When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of mid-day to objects below. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer. With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his courses they came, and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name. 'Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall! Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!'__As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, with the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, and he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack. His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard of his chin was as white as the snow. The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly! He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose! He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,  
><em>

_"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"_

Richard looked over to Alex, who was fast asleep on the armchair. Not wanting to wake her, he put a blanket over her small body, and turned off the lamp. "Merry Christmas, Alex." He whispered. There was a knock at the door, and Richard smiled to himself. Ben stood outside, awkwardly trying to balance a decent amount of badly-wrapped presents in his arms.

"Is she asleep?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, do you need a hand with those?" Richard gestured to the pile of presents.

"No, no, I got it." Richard and Ben spent the next twenty minutes arranging Alex's presents under the tree, being as quiet as possible so they wouldn't wake Alex. "Thank you for watching her today." Ben whispered when the presents looked presentable.

The next morning, when Alex woke up, she was surprised by several wrapped presents under their Christmas tree. She ran into her father's room, shaking him awake excitedly while repeating,

"There are presents, Daddy! Presents! Come on so we can open them! We have to go now! Come on!" When Ben was finally awake, and Alex was ripping through the paper of her presents, Richard stopped by to see how Alex's first official Christmas went.

"It's, like, the best day ever!" Alex beamed. "Thanks Daddy, for the presents. And thank you, Richard, for showing me what Christmas was." She sat a new book down on the table, and gave both men gigantic hugs. "I just have one question."

"What is it?"

"When is next Christmas?"


End file.
